Chester, Pennsylvania house fire kills 7 on fourth of July, 14 people lived in three-story house

Fire accidental, blamed on grease on stove

Chris Kokenes, CNN

1:16 PM, Jul 7, 2013

Copyright Associated Press

(CNN) -- A house fire on the Fourth of July in Pennsylvania has claimed a 7th victim.

A 2-year-old, Cordail Kuhns, was pronounced dead at 4 p.m. on Saturday, according to a spokesman for Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Chester, Pennsylvania. Spokesman Grant Gegwich was unable to release details on the cause of death.

On Thursday morning, David Kuhns and his sons Shawn, 6, and Skylar, 8, died along with James Moore, who owned the three-story home where 14 people lived, said Capt. Fred Lenhart of the Lancaster City Fire Department.

David Kuhns' wife, Crystal Kuhns, and their daughter, Mickey, died later while being treated at the burn unit at the medical center outside Philadelphia, according to Gegwich.

Investigators are ruling the 3 a.m. fire as accidental and say it was caused by a pan of grease left on top of a stove with the burner on high, said fire Capt.Ken Barton.

Four people who were trapped on the third floor of the home escaped through a window onto a rooftop and into a neighbor's house, officials said on Friday.

One of those who did escape was the pregnant daughter of the deceased owner. Martha Moore, 27, nearly eight months pregnant, escaped and within four hours of the fire delivered a girl by emergency cesarean section.

"It's expected to be a bittersweet day. Her father dies and her baby is born," said Barton.

Moore and David Kuhns died in the house while the two young boys died shortly after at the hospital.

Two families lived in the home, located at 115 East Clay Street in Lancaster, Lenhart said.

Investigators found three smoke detectors in the building but none was working, said Barton.